which it was found, are additional proofs that Mayence was the birth-place of the art of printing, and that the honour of the invention belongs to John Geinsfleish Gutenberg. FRANCIS FRY. Cotham, Bristol. WAS MACBETH A USURPER? Mal be just the boundaries of the ancient thanedom. Mac- The following interesting article relative to Macbeth appeared some few years ago in a provincial journal of the county of Ayr, and was written by the editor, Mr. James Paterson, a gentleman of great ability and learning, who has recently published a life of the great Scotish poet Dunbar, and partially modernised his principal poems, in order to make them intelligible to modern readers, who are too frequently repelled by lawes." The cause of these contests and murders eviobsolete orthography from appreciating the beauties of ancient authors. We earnestly recommend the modernised Dunbar to our Southern readers. Without giving our assent to some questionable inferences, we may take the liberty to correct Mr. Paterson on two points: (1.) Duncan was not assassinated; he was wounded in some conflict near Elgin: what brought bim into the territory of the Marmor or Sub-King is not explained; and (2.) he died at Elgin, not Inverness, of the wounds so received. Gruoch was the wife of Duncan, and only married Macbeth on the death of the King. It is presumed that Duncan espoused her from her claim to the crown, which was better than his own. Neither was she the mother of Malcolm Caenmore, as we propose to show at some future period. He was, we suspect, illegitimate,—a fact of no great moment in those days, as it was the position of his cotemporary William the Conqueror. "This is perhaps a curious question to put at the present day; and yet is not without interest. All history tells us that he was both a murderer and a usurper; and the genius of England's great dramatist has so immortalised the fictions of Boece that it is doubtful if ever they will be eradicated from the popular mind. Materials for the early history of Scotland are so meagre and unsatisfactory that few modern historians have ventured upon it. The critical Lord Hailes, in his Annals, went no farther back than Malcolm II., and that merely to allude to the fact of his having a daughter, Beatrice, mother of Duncan, who ascended the throne in 1034. Duncan was assassinated by Macbeth at a smith's house in the vicinity of Inverness. This is the first appearance of the so-called usurper in history. He can be traced, however, somewhat more remotely. Boece says that his mother was Doada, another daughter of Malcolm II., and that consequently he was cousin-german to Duncan; but this statement does not rest on good authority, and circumstances militate against its truth. that is known of. Macbeth's birth is, that he was the son of Finlach, or Finlay, maormor (or thane, or lord) of Ross, and grandson of Rory, or Roderick. Wintoun styles him Thane of Crumbachty, which is the Gaelic for Cromartywhere Macbeth's castle stood. The union of Ross and Cromarty under one sheriffdom, as at present, seems to All And now it was that the ambition of Macbeth began. He was lord of Ross and Cromarty by birth, and of Murray by marriage, and his step-son, Lulach*, evidently the nearest heir to the crown. He had thus not only justice on his side, but the slaughter of his own father, and his wife's kindred to revenge. In these, and much later days, injuries of this kind were never appeased unless washed out by blood; and in judging of character the times and circumstances must always be taken into consideration. If he listened to the promptings of Lady Macbeth-whose feelings may well be conceived-he had every apology. He had himself a claim to the crown, in right of his wife, and as the guardian of the youthful heir. The leniency of Macbeth contrasts to advantage with the bloody steps which marked the ascent of Malcolm II. to the throne. Duncan seems to have been the sole victim even his sons were allowed to escape. The deaths of Banquo and others are mere fictions. That the nation generally was favourable to his assumption of the regal power is apparent from the fact of his having been permitted to exercise it so long without opposition; and it is well known that the Scots enjoyed much peace and prosperity under his reign, at least during the earlier portion of it, before the insurrections occasioned by the sons and partizans of Duncan led to strong retaliatory measures. Indeed, unless for the aid of the Northum brians, it is not likely that Malcolm III. would ever have been crowned. That Macbeth was not the blood-stained usurper he has been represented, is thus clear, and it is rather a peculiar evidence of his mildness of disposition, and of his sense of justice, that the assassination of Duncan lay corrosively at his heart. While others had numerous crimes of a similar character to deplore, and appear to have felt no particular uneasiness in consequence, this simple act of blood called forth from him numerous deeds of charity. He is even said, by Florence of Worcester, to have bribed the Court of Rome for atonement. As a farther evidence of his singleness of heart, his step-son, Lulach-which, in Gaelic, signifies fatuousalthough of weak intellect, seems to have been carefully protected. Had his ambition been selfish, he might easily have found ways and means to despatch one so helpless, and thus make room for his own progeny, which tradition affirms he had. After his defeat and slaughter by Malcolm III. (5th December, 1056), his fatuous step-son, Lulach, was placed on the throne by his relations, but no party espoused his cause, and he was discovered in his lurking-place and slain at Eski, in Strathbogie, 3rd April, 1057. Macbeth filled the throne for seventeen years a long period considering the era. It is not known when his wife died. "That his assumption of the throne proceeded in right of his wife, is apparent from her name being associated with his in all public documents Rex et Regina similar to William and Mary' of the Revolution settlement. The following charter, by Macbeth and Gruoch, to the Culdees, besides illustrating our statement, is in itself very curious: "Machbet filius Finlach et Gruoch dederint Sancto Servano, Kyrkenes. "Machbet filius Finlach contulit pro suffragiis orationum et Gruoch filia Bodhe, Rex et Regina Scotorum Kyrkenes, Deo Omnipotenti et Keledeis prefate Insule Lochleuine cum suis finibus et terminis. Hii enim sunt fines et termini de Kyrkenes et villule quæ dicitur Pethmokanne, de loco Moneloccodhan usque ad amnem quæ dicitur Leuine, et hoc in latitudine, item a publica strata que ducit apud Hinhirkethyn et usque ad Saxum Hiberniensium quod Malcolmus Rex, filius Duncani concessit eis salinagium quod Scotice dicitur chonnane. Et venerunt Hibernienses ad Kyrkenes ad domum cujusdam viri nomine Mochan qui tunc fuit absens, et solum mulieres erant in domo quas oppresserunt violenter Hibernienses, non tamen sine rubore et verecundia. Rei et euentu ad aures prefati Mochan prevento et iter quam tocius domi festinavit et invenit ibi Hibernienses, in eadem domo cum matre sua. Exhortacione etenim matri sepius sue facta et extra domum veniret que nullatenus uoluit set (sed) Hibernienses voluit protegere et eis pacem dare, quos omnes prefatus vir in ulcione tanti facinoris, ut oppressores mulierum et barbaros et sacrilegos in medio flamme ignis una cum matre sua uiriliter combussit et ex hac causa dicitur locus ille Saxum Hiberniensium.'* "The foregoing is taken from the chartulary of the Priory of St. Andrews. It is a grant to the Culdees by Machbet, son of Finlach,' and Gruoch, daughter of Bodhe, King and Queen of the Scots,' of Kyrkenes. It is remarkable for the description of the boundaries. Amongst others, it will be observed, Saxum Hiberniensium, the Irishmen's stone, or hill, is mentioned detailing, at the same time, the cause of the locality becoming known by this name. Certain Hibernians, it appears, had taken possession of the house of a man named Mochan, who was absent at the time, no one being at home but his P. 114. Printed for the members of the Bannatyne Club, by the late O. Tindal Bruce, Esq., of Falkland. mother and her females. On his return he was naturally surprised and wroth at what had occurred, and having urged his mother in vain to leave the premises, he at last set fire to them, burning the Irishmen, together with the lady-mother and her handmaids. This charter throws some light on the state of Scotland at the time. There was, it is evident, a thorough distinction between the Scoti and Hibernii, and it makes known the fact that the language of the Scots, in the reign of Macbeth, was Gaelic Salinagium quod Scotice dicitur chonnane,' - that is, the salt-work, in Scotice called chonnane. The circumstance which gave rise to the Saxum Hiberniensium no doubt occurred prior to the time of the charter. It is referred to as an event of the past, and it seems to bear out what we have in a little work, on The Origin of the Scots, endeavoured to prove, that the Scoti were known in Scotland long before the settlement of Fergus in Cantyre. There can be no doubt that Argyleshire and the Western Isles were often spoken of as Hibernia, inclusive of Ireland proper. The Scots from Ireland, under Fergus, were frequently called Irishmen, in contradistinction to the Scots of the mainland. The stone or hill at Kirkness in Fiteshire, may therefore have derived its name from a party of West Highlandmen- although then unknown by that name.* Even so late as the sixteenth century we find them styled Irish Patten, in his account of that ill-managed battle, Pinkie, in 1547, mentions the presence of Argyle with 3.00 Irish archers (Western Highlanders). In Scotland, where the distinction came to be better understood, they were called Earsch, or Erse, as different from Irishmen proper. In the Chamberlain's Rolls, in 1502, disbursements are made to Pate, harper on the harp; James Ungisoun, harper; the Inglis harper; Pate, harper on the clarscha; the Irland clarsha.' The Ersh clarscha' occurs sometimes in the same list, and is distinguished from the Irland harper the one evidently being West Highland, and the other from Ireland. It is therefore a matter of strong presumption, if not certainty, that there were other Scots in Scotland prior to the advent of Fergus, the reputed leader of the first colony, seeing that the distinction was so long kept up for there is no other event known in history which would warrant the West Highlanders to have been at any time designated Irishmen." Perhaps the following may be a correct list of the marriages of Queen Gruoch: Gruoch married, first, the Marmor of Moray, who was burnt, with several of his subjects, by Malcolm II. Of this match we suspect came Lulach, who, upon the death of Macbeth, was proclaimed King of the Scots by the body of the nation. He reigned six months, when he was slain by the Saxon invaders and the rebellious adherents of Malcolm Caenmore. Her second husband was Duncan, by whom she had two children, Donald Bane, and one name unknown. Macbeth, who was Marmor of Ross and Cromarty, latterly obtained Moray. We suspect that, being too powerful, Duncan, alarmed for his growing popularity, entered Morayshire hostilely, and, having been severely wounded in a conflict with the Marmor, was not slain on the spot, but was carried to Elgin, where he died of his wounds. This last fact is proved by the unquestionable evidence afforded by the Carmen The term Highlander is modern. Elegiacum, which also records that Duncan's body was interred in Iona, the burying-place of the Scotish monarchs. The third husband was Macbeth; but there was apparently no issue of this marriage, nor are there any traces of the period of her demise. Both Macbeth and his Queen were great patrons of the Cul. dees. J. M. DEED OF RICHARD CŒUR DE LION. The Seal of which was attached by a Love-Ribbon, with a French Device. During a visit last autumn to Caen, I was gratified (through the kindness of M. Chatel, Keeper of the Archives of the Department) with a view of the MS. treasures in his charge, many of which are of great interest to the English archæologist. Here, as in the Museum of Antiquities at Rouen, are to be seen the "mark" of William the Norman (knight and conqueror, but not clerk), and the more delicate, but still illiterate, cross which did duty as the autograph of his queen. There is one deed, however, which, as combining both law and love, business and romance, has a more than ordinary claim upon English attention. As it has never, I believe, been reproduced in England, an account of it, kindly furnished by M. Chatel, may not be unacceptable to your readers. The text of the deed is as follows: "Ricard(us) Dei gr(ati)a, rex Angl(orum) dux Norm(annorum) Aquit (anorum) com(es) And(egavorum), Archiep(iscopis) ep(iscopis), abb(atibus) com(itibus) bar(onibus) justiciis, vicecom(itibus), senescall(is) p(re)positis et om(n)ib(us) ministris et fidelib(us) suis toti (u)s t(er)re sue sal(u)tem: Sciatis nos dedisse et reddidisse et presenti carta n(ost)ra_co(n)firmasse dilecto et familiari n(ost)ro Ricardo de Humetis p(ro) servicio et homagio suo et Gile uxori sue, et heredibus eor(um) Popevillam et Warrevill(am) cum p(er)tinenciis suis om(n)ibus cum baronia sua, sicut jus et h(er)editate(m) suam ex p(ar)te p(re)dicte Gile, uxoris sue Quare volum(us) et firmit(er) precipim(us) q(uo)d predict(us) Ric(ardus) et p(re)dicta G. uxor sua, et heredes eor(um) h(abe)ant et teneant de nob(is) et heredibus n(ost)ris predictas villas cum om(n)ibus p(er)tinenciis suis b(e)n(e) et in pace lib(er)e et quiete, integrè, plenariè, et honorificè in bosco et plano, in pratis et pasturis, in aquis et molend(inis) in viis et semitis, in vivariis et stagnis in mariscis et piscariis et in om(n)ibus aliis locis et aliis reb(us) ad p(re)dicta maneria p(er)tinentibus, cum serviciis et homagiis et releviis et cum om(ni)bus lib(er)tatibus et lib(er)is consuetudinibus suis et cum omni integritate sua. Testibus: God (efrido) Winton(ensi) ep(iscopo) W(i)(elmo) filio Rad(ulli) sen(escallo) Norm(annie) Bag(ano) de Rochefort sen(escallo) And(egavie) Rob(erto) de Harec(urt) Philippo de Columb(eriis) Gaufr(ido) de Cella Will(elm)o de S(anc)te Marie eccl(esi)a decano Moret (onii). Data p(er) manum Job(ann)is de Alenc(on) Lexov(iensis) archidiaconi) vicecancellarii) n(ost)ri [Date eaten away by a rat] apud Chin(onem) anno primo regni nostri." The seal having disappeared has left the attachments perfectly clear for inspection. They consist of two silken cords, of hollow cylindrical form, The end of the last line is illegible. The work of these hollow ribbons is most beautiful; the letters, which are white, have been woven at the same time with the ground, and no trace of seam or join is visible throughout. The theory of M. Chatel, as to the way in which these love-tokens found themselves attached to the deed, is, that they were given to Richard by the fair Gile herself, and that on her marriage he thus returned. them, attaching them to the seal which gave to her husband the lands of Popeville and Varreville, as his "right and inheritance by the said Gile." But whatever explanation be given of the possible history of these ribbons, they are highly interesting as evidence of the perfection attained by the Norman ladies at the beginning of the twelfth century in the art of weaving. M. Chatel says that he frequently finds ribbons of similar texture used for the same purpose on deeds in the public archives. In later times these loveribbons, with their mottoes and devices, must have become pretty common. We have many dating from about the middle or end of the seventeenth century; constancy appears to be the virtue inculcated by them all. JOHN ELIOT HODGKIN. PALEY AND "THE ATHENÆUM," ETC. It is good to catch a critic tripping; be kind enough, therefore, to accord space for the following correction of a blunder made in The Athenæum review lately (No. 1725. Nov. 17, 1860.) The reviewer, while severely castigating a small work entitled Dinners and Diners, &c. &c., by E. L. Blanchard, charges Pope with stealing from Les Pensées of Blaise Pascal; and then goes on to say: "So with Paley; if he took with both hands from the logic and illustrations of the philosophic Hollander Nieuwentyt, he, at all events, built an elegant English mansion with his Dutch bricks, entitling his edifice The Evidences of Christianity." The writer in The Athenæum has here evidently mistaken the Evidences for the Natural Theology of Paley, -a blunder the more strange for this reason, that it was in The Athenæum itself (1848, pp. 803. 907. 93.) that the obligations of the Natural Theology to the Dutch man were first pointed out. It is true, the Engglish editions of Bernard Nieuwentyt, translated by Chamberlayne, and entitled the Religious Philosopher furnished the general idea, and many of the illustrations to the Natural Theology, and were copied by the archdeacon without the slightest acknowledgment. But out of Butler's Analogy, Lardner's Credibility, and Douglas' Criterion, he quarried the materials for his Evidences of Christianity. (See Mackintosh's Ethical Philosophy, ed. Whewell, p. 275., et passim.) As for the Moral Philosophy, he was largely indebted to Puffendorf, who, again, helped himself to much from Hobbes, and to a great deal more from Grotius. To Abraham Tucker he is candid enough to confess his debt. But from Puffendorf, in particular, he borrowed "several minor illustrations, such as the equivocal promises of Timur (called by Paley Temures) to the garrison of Sebastia, and the rules for division of profits in partnership." (Hallam's Lit. Hist. vol. iv. p. 178.) One may learn from his own admission (Preface to Moral Philosophy) that his practice was to extract passages without noting down their source, and store them up for future use. Accordingly, he may be held up as an example to all readers of "N. & Q." - an example to be shunned. For this is no trifling matter, nor a subject for the poet's stricture "rixatur de lanâ sæpe caprinâ." Let every reading man, on booking even a line in his C. P. B., mark the title, page, edition, &c., of the work from which he culls; so that matter may be forthcoming, when wanted for future "Notes and Queries," in that formal precision and exactitude as to references, so acceptable to the editor. F. S. Churchdown. [We receive so many communications pointing out errors, or assumed errors, of fact or language in our contemporaries, that we fear an erroneous notion exists that it is the especial province of "N. & Q." to record and correct such mistakes. We decline such an invidious task. Errors, in spite of the greatest care, will occur in the very best conducted journals, and the proper place for their correction is obviously the columns in which they have occurred. We make an exception in favour of the present communication upon several obvious grounds. The error, in itself a venial one, as likely to occur in the hurry of writing, is treated with very good taste, while its correction is made the medium of conveying some useful literary information. But we gave place to the communication chiefly for the opportunity which it affords us of making this explanation, and because we agree with the writer in insisting (which cannot be done too frequently or too earnestly) on the necessity of " every reading man, on booking even a line in his C. P. B., marking the title, page, edition, &c. of the work from which he culls."-ED.] "There has been shocking weather in the Mediterranean, and Rome has been visited by such a fall of snow as is not witnessed here once in twenty years. It fell on Saturday night [Dec. 22], and Sunday's sun, although bright, did not succeed in melting it. The view of Rome, snow-covered, from the Pincio was novel and curious. A heavy rain yesterday, and. the return of the scirocco last evening, cleared the last vestiges of the white mantle from churches and housetops." Your correspondent F. C. B., "N. &. Q.," 2nd S. v. 344., quotes Juvenal as saying that "it is necessary to break the ice of the Tiber in order to get water." The passage to which he alludes occurs in the description of the superstitious woman in vi. 522.: — "Hibernum fractâ glacie descendet in amnem, Ter matutino Tiberi mergetur, et ipsis Vorticibus timidum caput abluet." In this passage, however, the first verse is independent of the second; Juvenal does not imply that the Tiber is frozen. The importance of the morning, for lustratory bathing in the Tiber, is indicated by Horace, Sat. ii. 3. 291. L. "POETRY, A RHAPSODY." Swift, we are told, received the thanks of the royal family for this poem. This can only be explained, as Dr. King explained it, by the assumption that "irony is not however, that the royal family had seen only the a figure in German rhetoric." It is probable, London edition, from which Swift had struck out the more offensive passages. Sir W. Scott has professedly given these in notes on the poem; but two which escaped his observation I shall here quote for the information of the curious, marking the lines in italic : "A prelate who no God believes, A AN OLD PROVERB. In a letter dated 2 Oct. 1602, in the State Paper Office, may be seen the following "household" proverb: "For yt is odds that between two stooles som what will go to the ground." Perhaps there are as many readings to this well-known proverb as have been attributed to any passage in Shakspeare. It would be rather curious to trace the first or original, and also the earliest period at which it was used. It is evident from the above that the proverb has been in use for more than two centuries and a half. W. N. S. The enclosed extract from a book entitled Notitia Anglicana, published in London A.D. 1724, appears to me to possess considerable interest; as, if the story which it relates be true, a claim of antiquity is made out in favour of the coat of Cecil far exceeding in date any ascertained instance of the assumption of armorial bearings, and indeed controverting the opinions expressed by Mr. Planche and other of our eminent writers on blazonry. Hoping for an explanation through the good offices of some correspondent of yours, I copy it verbatim from p. 47. of the work in ques tion: "The paternal coat of the Cecils appears to be very antient, by a Letter Testimonial under the Hand and Seal of the King of Arms, bearing date the fourth of April, in the fifth Year of King Edward the Third, exhibited to Edward de Beaulil and John de Mowbray, Commissioners appointed by the said King, to determine a Controversy between Sir John Sitsill, Knt., and William de Fakenham, concerning their pretended right to bear the said Coat, which happened at the Siege of Berwick in the said Year, in the Field of Mount Helikon, now called Hallydown Hill, near the said town. It seems they both claimed it by Descent, and were so earnest in that their Claim as to desire a Decision of their Title by the Sword; but the King (as well to avoid shedding noble Blood, and deal Justice between the Claimants) appointed the said Commissioners to determine the Affair, who finding the said Sir John Sitsill by the said Instrument to descend lineally from James Sitsill, Esq., Lord of Halterness and Beauport, and that the said James did Advance the said arms in Ensign at the Siege of Wallingford Castle in the seventh Year of King Stephen, wherein he was slain; it was thereupon decreed by publick Judgement, that the said William de Fakenham, or Feckenham, should not challenge the said Arms, under the Penalty of forfeiting his sharp Sword and gilt Spurs for ever." This would fix the date of the Cecil arms at the year 1142; but they do not present the appearance of simplicity peculiar to the early coats; and yet Edward III.'s commissioners had surely a better opportunity of judging than heralds of the present day. It is noteworthy that the book I have quoted, under the title "Exeter," says, the "Earl bears the same as the Earl of Salisbury, without the difference, being Chief of the Name, though youngest "A haughty troop unto a village hies, A muster strong of over-ruling Lies. And Truth, where art thou?' cried in heightened tone, I knew not: till I met yon reckless crew, J. C. ANGEL HALfpence. Will some one kindly refer me to an explanation of the above source of churchwardens' revenue in early times? It occurs thus in some parish accounts for 1524: "Mem. Ther ys remayng of angell halpens and other ayll money vj viijd." I have searched in vain through all my books of reference. J. EASTWOOD. |